Bug#1086819: task-gnome-flashback-desktop: dependency on transitional network-manager-gnome

[Simon McVittie]

Package: task-gnome-flashback-desktop
Version: 3.77
Severity: minor
Tags: trixie sid
X-Debbugs-Cc: gnome-***@packages.debian.org

This package depends on network-manager-gnome, which is now a transitional
package.

If the functionality that it requires is /usr/bin/nm-connection-editor,
please depend on the nm-connection-editor package instead.

If the functionality that it requires is the nm-applet applet (tray icon)
indicating network status, please depend on the network-manager-applet
package instead.

If it requires both, please depend on both packages separately.

If it doesn't actually require either of those, but only the
NetworkManager daemon, you might want to depend on network-manager instead
(this is what GNOME does).

Thanks,
smcv

[Dmitry Shachnev]

Hi Simon!

Post by Simon McVittie
Package: task-gnome-flashback-desktop
Version: 3.77
Severity: minor
Tags: trixie sid
This package depends on network-manager-gnome, which is now a transitional
package.
If the functionality that it requires is /usr/bin/nm-connection-editor,
please depend on the nm-connection-editor package instead.
If the functionality that it requires is the nm-applet applet (tray icon)
indicating network status, please depend on the network-manager-applet
package instead.

GNOME Flashback requires the tray icon. I submitted a MR to change the
dependency:

https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/tasksel/-/merge_requests/36

--
Dmitry Shachnev

[Holger Wansing]

Hello installer-team,

Simon has just filed some bugreports against tasksel, that ask for package
adjustment for some different desktop environments (regarding network-manager
packages): #1086819, #1086829, #1086831

I would like to make a proposal, to be sent out to all DE teams.

We are not the right people to decide, which packages to include in which
DE, so we will have to ask the DE people anyway.
To simplify this whole structure, I propose the following:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The installer-team would like to invite the desktop-environment teams, to
change the way how package selection for the different desktops is managed:

Instead of maintaining a list of packages per desktop in tasksel (thus
in task-*-desktop), managed by the installer-team (that has no deep insight,
which package makes sense to be included in the respective desktops), we
would like to move to one (or more) meta packages per desktop, which are
maintained by the respective desktop teams, and where tasksel depends on.


GNOME recently went this way already: there are two meta packages for
the GNOME desktop ('gnome-core' and 'gnome'), and task-gnome-desktop
simply depends on them.
That way, GNOME people can easily control, which packages they would
like to have included in a GNOME desktop installation performed by the
debian-installer / tasksel.


So, please think about introducing one or more meta packages for your
desktop, and depending them on all packages you would like to have
included in a default installation of your DE.

If you already have such structure ready, please drop us a note, which meta
packages are relevant for your DE, so that tasksel can depend on them.

Many thanks


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think?


Holger

[Holger Wansing]

Hi,

Post by Simon McVittie
If the functionality that it requires is /usr/bin/nm-connection-editor,
please depend on the nm-connection-editor package instead.
If the functionality that it requires is the nm-applet applet (tray icon)
indicating network status, please depend on the network-manager-applet
package instead.
If it requires both, please depend on both packages separately.
If it doesn't actually require either of those, but only the
NetworkManager daemon, you might want to depend on network-manager instead
(this is what GNOME does).

I would like to see the way changed, how package selection for the different
desktops is managed:

Instead of maintaining a list of packages per desktop in tasksel (thus
in task-*-desktop), managed by the installer-team (that has no deep insight,
which package makes sense to be included in the respective desktops), we
would like to move to one (or more) meta packages per desktop, which are
maintained by the respective desktop teams, and that tasksel depends on.


GNOME recently went this way already: there are two meta packages for
the GNOME desktop ('gnome-core' and 'gnome'), and task-gnome-desktop
simply depends on them.
That way, GNOME people can easily control, which packages they would
like to have included in a GNOME desktop installation performed by the
debian-installer / tasksel.


Holger

[Simon McVittie]

Post by Holger Wansing
Instead of maintaining a list of packages per desktop in tasksel (thus
in task-*-desktop), managed by the installer-team (that has no deep insight,
which package makes sense to be included in the respective desktops), we
would like to move to one (or more) meta packages per desktop, which are
maintained by the respective desktop teams, and that tasksel depends on.

(Please keep the maintainers of gnome-flashback in Cc when discussing
this - I am not one of them)

I agree this would be a good improvement, but GNOME Flashback doesn't
currently seem to have a suitable metapackage: the package named
gnome-flashback is an implementation detail rather than a metapackage, and
gnome-session-flashback seems to be intended to be the equivalent of
gnome-session, which is "smaller" than a complete desktop
metapackage. Adding a metapackage would require a trip through NEW,
for some source package.

I would prefer this to *not* be part of src:meta-gnome3, because most
uploaders of meta-gnome3 are concentrating on GNOME itself and are not
thinking about the GNOME Flashback spinoff. In practice, the primary
maintainer of GNOME Flashback in Debian seems to be Dmitry Shachnev.

It seems to me that doing this restructuring is orthogonal to whether
the existing task package has a dependency on a transitional package:
either one can be fixed without affecting the other.

smcv

[Holger Wansing]

Hi,

Post by Simon McVittie

Post by Holger Wansing
Instead of maintaining a list of packages per desktop in tasksel (thus
in task-*-desktop), managed by the installer-team (that has no deep insight,
which package makes sense to be included in the respective desktops), we
would like to move to one (or more) meta packages per desktop, which are
maintained by the respective desktop teams, and that tasksel depends on.

(Please keep the maintainers of gnome-flashback in Cc when discussing
this - I am not one of them)

ACK.

Post by Simon McVittie
I agree this would be a good improvement, but GNOME Flashback doesn't
currently seem to have a suitable metapackage: the package named
gnome-flashback is an implementation detail rather than a metapackage, and
gnome-session-flashback seems to be intended to be the equivalent of
gnome-session, which is "smaller" than a complete desktop
metapackage. Adding a metapackage would require a trip through NEW,
for some source package.

My proposal might require a new meta package to be created, yes.

Post by Simon McVittie
I would prefer this to *not* be part of src:meta-gnome3, because most
uploaders of meta-gnome3 are concentrating on GNOME itself and are not
thinking about the GNOME Flashback spinoff. In practice, the primary
maintainer of GNOME Flashback in Debian seems to be Dmitry Shachnev.
It seems to me that doing this restructuring is orthogonal to whether
either one can be fixed without affecting the other.

That's correct of course.
This bugreport simply reminded my, that I planned to sent out such proposal.


Holger

[Debian Bug Tracking System]

tag -1 pending

Bug #1086819 [task-gnome-flashback-desktop] task-gnome-flashback-desktop: dependency on transitional network-manager-gnome
Added tag(s) pending.